2008 Indiana Mr. Football: Morgan Newton was well-rounded on and off the field

Dec. 4, 2012

Carmel Greyhound senior quarterback Morgan Newton is the 2009 Indianapolis Star Mr. Football. Newton is heading to the University of Kentucky to play football. Newton is also the Super Team Player of the Year. Monday, December 8, 2008. (Matt Dial / The Star)

Written by

Morgan Newton's athletic resume includes three consecutive Class 5A state title game appearances with the Carmel High School football team. His personal highlight came a year ago, in the middle of that run.

"Seeing how excited all the seniors, the big brothers in our Carmel football family, were with their families after we won the state championship (in 2007)," said Newton, a 6-5, 220-pound quarterback. "You could see what it meant to them."

Newton, who was voted the Indianapolis Star Indiana Mr. Football for 2008, is on anything but a personal crusade. His focus is on the people around him.

The senior proudly tells of listening to talk radio with his father each morning before school, of catching the evening news with his family after practice and exchanging views on current events with his grandfather, a voracious reader of newspapers.

"A lot of kids get caught up in whatever fashion is out or the latest things that are important to us but not important to everyone else," he said. "I just try to be aware of what's going on around me, whether that be on the TV or in the newspaper.

"That way you can always hold a conversation."

Newton has been the subject of much talk on the football field, which explains why he received 34 of the 52 votes for the state's highest individual honor in the sport as selected by the Indiana Football Coaches Association coaches rating board. Runner-up was Sheridan's Nick Zachery with 10 votes.

Newton threw for 1,938 yards and 22 touchdowns during the recently-completed season and rushed for another 1,664 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Newton's numbers against elite competition were staggering. Against six of the state's perennial powers -- Cathedral, Warren Central, Ben Davis, Fort Wayne Snider, Penn and two games against state champion Center Grove -- he averaged 280 yards and 2.9 touchdowns (running and passing).

"To me, that's pretty impressive in big-time games," said Carmel coach Mo Moriarity, who has coached two other Mr. Football winners, including NFL quarterback Rex Grossman (at Bloomington South). "Even including Rex, I've never had a kid who could just take over a game, whether it's running or throwing, like (Newton) does.

"He's unbelievable."

Newton, who plans to study business and play quarterback at Kentucky, is the son of former North Central and Grambling fullback John Newton, an assistant principal at Carmel for 11 years. Newton's mother, Ruby, is an IBM executive.

John Newton said his eldest son -- twins Langston and Jordan are freshmen at Carmel -- has been a "Mr. Everything" essentially since birth. Even Morgan's first athletic moments were memorable.

Initially, the sport was soccer, but Newton, whose family lived in Pike Township through his freshman year until building a home in Carmel, also excelled at baseball and basketball in addition to football.

"From the time we put him on the field, he was the leading scorer and played great defense," said John Newton, who coached many of his son's youth teams. "You could see that his hand-eye coordination was just unbelievable, and he'd just do whatever he wanted to do.

"Basketball was the same thing. He'd take the ball right down the floor and score. He'd shoot and score. Football the same way. Baseball, he'd make catches over his head that would make the highlight reel. He could steal every base."

But Morgan Newton is as much about what happens when the games end. Yes, he was disappointed when Center Grove rallied from a 33-14 deficit to beat his Greyhounds for the 2008 state title, but Moriarity noted that Newton was a rock in the locker room, particularly for the young players.

Just part of his role, Newton said.

"I was just trying to take the best attitude possible," he said. "There were a lot of seniors there that probably won't play another football game, and I wanted the underclassmen to see how you're supposed to act."